Beaten to It
by spiritedarray
Summary: Sometimes things don't always go according to plan. One-shot. ShikaTema


**A/N:** This is based on one particular headcanon I have where Shikamaru and Temari, being a rather un-traditional couple, go about things in a slightly different order and have a child before a wedding. I hope you enjoy!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own _Naruto_.

* * *

"So..." Temari drawled as they sat on the sofa. He was at one end, onto the third puzzle in the newspaper already; she was at the other, reading a book. Her feet rested in his lap. "Wanna get married?"

He froze. A moment later, he'd shut the paper and tossed it onto the coffee table.

" _Eh_?!" he exclaimed, eyes bugged out and confused.

"What's with that look?" she chuckled, leaning forward to pinch his goatee playfully. "We've been talking about it for years. Heck, we've bickered like an old married couple since we first met. So why the surprise? You're having commitment issues _now_ , Nara? After eight years?" she teased. "Need I remind you who's sleeping in the next room?"

"No, no, it's not like that," he said quickly. "Believe me, I want to marry you, Tem. I've wanted to for a long time. I just always thought _I'd_ be the one to propose..."

" _Please_ ," she laughed, swinging her legs off of him and back onto the floor. "We both know if I'd left it to you, a wedding would not be in sight until one of us was dying."

"Hey," he grumbled. "Have a little faith in me."

"Sorry," she grinned. She leaned against the back of the sofa and played with the spikes of his ponytail. "Did I emasculate you by suggesting it?"

He blushed. "Well, I wouldn't consider that a real proposal."

"Excuse me?" she scoffed. "Don't tell me you wanted me to sweep you off your feet, Nara?"

"Getting down on one knee would've been nice," he joked.

"Ha!" She turned her face away and crossed her arms indignantly. "In your dreams, crybaby."

"I mean, if I were you, I would've waited until a special occasion, say...your thirtieth birthday," he said slowly, gauging her reaction. The furrowing of her eyebrows told of her initial confusion, however her body language gradually relaxed as he continued talking. "I would've cooked you a beautiful dinner, and we would cuddle on the sofa with wine and TV, and then Shikadai would try and pester us to play with him, complaining he wasn't tired. And he'd bring one of his favourite toys, maybe that mechanical bird you'd given him on his first birthday. And I'd realise there was something stuck in its beak, and say, 'What's this?'...and I would pull out a ring, and get down on one knee, and say..."

By this point, she had registered exactly what he was doing and she was facing him in complete wonderment and speechlessness. Her eyes were wide and bright; her breathing suddenly irrational. He was off the sofa, kneeling in front of her, with a small open box in his hands. Tucked inside was a slender circle of gold with a single diamond in the band; simple and timeless, just what she had always dreamed of.

"...Temari, will you marry me?"

She could barely utter a single word in response. A few seconds of awkward silence had passed before she smirked and said, "Sounds romantic."

He rolled his eyes. "Come on Tem, don't leave me hanging here. I thought I executed that rather smoothly, so don't ruin this for me."

"You were really going to do all that on the 23rd?"

"You bet I was," he grumbled. "I was ready to have a father-son talk with Shikadai next week where I'd tell him the game plan. But _of course_ you were going to throw a spanner in the works and propose to _me_ spontaneously before I even got the chance to."

"I just didn't feel it was worth putting it off any longer. Our kid turns five next month, and he probably feels weird being the only one in the Academy whose parents aren't married..."

Shikamaru got up from his knees and sat back down on the sofa, putting the ring back in his pocket. "It's because you're turning thirty, isn't it?"

Her face flushed immediately with both embarrassment and irritation. "No, I couldn't care less about my age..."

"Temari."

"Fine!" she snapped. "We're not getting any younger, Shikamaru, and the elders keep saying that I'm past 'marriageable age'..."

"Who cares what they think?" he shrugged. "It didn't bother you before, so why does it bother you _now_?"

"Because soon we won't even be in the same age band anymore. I'll be in my _thirties_. The period of my life where everyone thinks I'm confined to being a good wife and mother. I guess by getting married...I'll feel like I'm young again. It's as if my twenties happened at an accelerated rate and everything happened in the wrong order. I just want that traditional experience, I suppose. "

"You _are_ young, Tem," Shikamaru insisted. "And no one thinks you're just going to be a housewife. You're the most badass lady I know. I'm sorry I didn't ask for your hand sooner...I didn't realise how important it was to you."

"It wasn't, I promise," she argued. "For a long time, I was content with just being together for the rest of our lives. We didn't need a piece of paper to be happy. If our son isn't proof of how much we love each other, what is? This paranoia has only just surfaced now that I've realised I have less than a fortnight left of my twenties."

He smirked. "You really wouldn't have cared if I never proposed?"

"No. I want you to be happy, and if you're happy with the way things are, I wouldn't want to force you into something." Then she laughed to herself. "Besides, give it enough time and _I_ would propose to _you_ , like I basically did earlier. Screw society's ru-"

She was interrupted by his lips on hers, sweet and intense and loving all at the same time. When they parted, he rested his forehead against hers. Breathlessly, he whispered, "Marry me, Tem."

Without thinking, she took his face in her hands and brought it to her own once more, gluing their lips together in frenzied passion.

At long last, he broke away, almost panting. "Is that a 'yes'?"

She snorted. "Of course it's a 'yes', dumbass."


End file.
